Apartment Building, Residential Payson, AZ – Kitchen fire at apartment complex smothered by sprinkler system February 19, 2015 viking210 A sprinkler system saved a kitchen and likely an entire apartment complex from extensive damages last Thursday night after a pot of oil boiled over, officials say. The resident was heating up the oil to cook some chicken in an upstairs apartment at Northview Apartments, 213 W. Bonita St., around 7 p.m. when he stepped outside. Within minutes, a grease fire erupted. Flames licked up the backsplash and to the overhead cabinets. Heat triggered a sprinkler in the center of the kitchen ceiling, smothering the flames. Fire Capt. Rick Winton said when firefighters arrived, the fire was out, but the sprinklers were still going. Crews turned the system off. They then entered the unit below Jones’, grabbed everything on the ground, piled it on the beds and covered it with tarps. Water did seep into the lower unit via the ceiling and walls, but was contained to the kitchen, Winton said. “The sprinklers definitely served their purpose,” he said. “Everyone was able to get out of the building safely.” If the building had not had sprinklers, firefighters would have battled a roaring grease fire, he said.
